Me and My Big Mouth.

The parents who raise their child to place such a high priority on his integrity, to always stand up when he knows he is right, to never lay down and take it when someone is being unfair or abusive, to be honest and speak his mind, do not know what kind of monster they may end up creating.

That child ended up being me. And while I certainly have a filter that could keep me from spouting off my honest thoughts, I choose to ignore it most of the time. Other people tend to not like this.

I am proud and more than happy that my parents focused so hard on teaching me all of these important principles. Never in my life have I ever wished I didn't have the ability to be honest, straightforward and able to speak my mind. That being said, many, many people are not ready to hear it (or read it). And this has landed me in trouble.

In high school, it almost got me fired on several occasions. I can recall getting in to full-blown arguments with the people who ran the retail store I worked in. In one specific situation, I told my manager that I had no respect for her, or any one else, as my boss. (To be fair, she was a terrible boss, and the store manager was fired a few months later) Luckily, I suppose, I was well-liked by some of my other superiors and rather adept at my job. Perhaps some of that spitfire can be attributed to being a teenager. Still, my ability to not just lie down and take it and speak my mind persevered.

The stakes are different now, it would seem. I'm not longer schlepping at a part-time, just-above-minimum-wage retail job that won't end up being my career anymore. This is the real-deal. And even so, my blunt honesty may once again be getting me in to trouble. I've learned, through experience and lecture, to be more vigilant in keeping my mouth shut in the professional world. And I am getting better. But often I wonder how long it will be before I slip up. Because even though it might be true, it doesn't mean it's the right thing to say.